E-mail, Feeds, 'n' Stuff

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Say goodbye to Hollywood

We don't pay as much attention to the monthly Hollywood Star News as we used to. Ever since their reporter Lee Perlman got himself arrested for defacing a Sam Adams recall petition, we take what the publication has to say with a grain of salt. But last night we picked up the latest edition, which was sitting in a pile of mail, and noticed that the masthead, which changed significantly about five years ago, has at some point morphed again:

Now the word "Hollywood" no longer appears on the mast, and whereas they used to brag about covering Northeast news, nowadays they're claiming both North and Northeast Portland as their turf. Their star's tarnished by Perlman, but we're still fortunate to have a functioning local news outlet to supplement the ever-dwindling content from the big players on the Portland media scene.

Comments (9)

If you want the latest in news, all you gotta do is play nice with the various Government News Services and they may put you on their e-broadcast list and then you will enjoy all the scoops as do our local news media.

Best yet, what they will send you is ready to read or print so it’s a simple cut-and-paste from there.

I think you're being a little too hard on Lee, too. Much of the original reporting in the Star (the small portion which isn't ads or reprinted press releases, anyway) is contributed by Lee. You've praised the Star's coverage of local issues, particularly around development. Well, a lot of that is Lee's handiwork. He must have an a$$ of steel to sit through all of the neighborhood association meetings and government hearings he shows up at.

He can be a bit of an odd duck; he made a tasteless reference to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in a lede announcing a new business (or maybe was it the Fremont Fest?) that opened on August 6 last year. And the Adams recall petition incident was indeed bizarre. But as a former reporter who rightfully laments the decline of journalism in these parts, I figure you'd want to cut an old-school, pen-and-notebook reporter like Lee some slack.

If you read his stuff carefully, it always subtly legitimizes the weirdness of Portland government. He quotes the clowns on the design commission as if they were gods. Sorry, but as I say, I don't even read his stuff half the time any more.

At least they haven't torn down the Hollywood Theater. I could envision that empty space next to it would have made a nice open space cafe spot for umbrellas/tables. These open spaces left in our city would be far preferable to keep as gathering places rather than the trend towards "street cafes" such as on Division Street.

"Hollywood" is still there, in the newspaper's masthead, it's just a little hard to see this month. It's right above the "t" and the "a" in "Star" and it actually reads a little better in your scan then it does in the print product. The red text has a shade or two more magenta ink than the orange background and the trapping on the small-serif font makes it virtually disappear. But it's there.

Also: I'm a big Lee Perlman fan, and I'd hate to see you discount the excellent work he does just because of his squabble with the Adams-recall people. There is no harder working journalist in town. You can add a grain of salt if you must, but Lee reports on meetings and important neighborhood issues that can't be found in other media -- and he has been doing that work, tirelessly, for a very long time.

Road Work

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